News at KAMK

Home / en / KAMK / News / KAMK was the most efficient university of applied sciences of 2018

KAMK was the most efficient university of applied sciences of 2018

5/3/2019 12:48 PM

According to funding indicators for the year 2018, Kajaani University of Applied Sciences was the most successful university of applied sciences of its size. KAMK’s results improved by 23% compared with 2017, while efficiency and profitability grew by 7% throughout the university of applied sciences sector. In 2017, Kajaani University of Applied Sciences was ranked fifth according to funding indicators.

President and CEO of KAMK, Matti Sarén says “This result demonstrates how dedicated our staff and students are at KAMK and I’m really proud of them! It’s an unfortunate contradiction that although we are the most financially efficient university of applied sciences in Finland, obstacles are being thrown our way in the form of cuts. Instead, it is easier to imagine that resources enabling our work to continue would be directed where this work efficiently produces good results”.

The year 2018 saw a period of extremely rapid and strong growth in results within the university of applied sciences sector, which was double the volume of growth seen in 2017 and four times more than in 2016.

KAMK also among those to produce the highest number of university of applied sciences degrees
The current funding model takes into account 9 different financial indicators that are included in the funding model for universities of applied sciences. KAMK was among the most efficient in terms of study related issues and external RDI funding. KAMK’s results improved the most in terms of the number of credits achieved through cooperation agreements with other universities. This was an increase of almost 300% compared with the year 2017. Kajaani University of Applied Sciences has contributed to, among others, the Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences’ joint online course selection: the Campusonline service and the courses offered therein.

KAMK was ranked second in terms of the number of accomplished degrees and credits accomplished via the Open University of Applied Sciences and specialisation programmes. Funding for the coming years will be increasingly based on the number of university of applied sciences degrees accomplished. In the funding model to be applied in 2021, 56 % of total funding for each university of applied sciences will be allocated according to this indicator. Kajaani University of Applied Sciences significantly increased its volume of external RDI funding compared with the previous year, being ranked second among universities of applied sciences of its size within the whole university of applied sciences sector.

“KAMK is also an education development trailblazer in the tertiary education sector due to separate funding. A good example of this is the funding for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in Finland and subsequently, the development of the Data to AI degree, provided jointly by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland,” explains President of KAMK, Matti Sarén.

A new funding model for Finnish universities of applied sciences has been in use since 2014. The new funding model is almost totally results based, with a considerable proportion of current funding being based completely on the results of operations. The funding model takes into account 10 different financial indicators: the number of university of applied sciences degrees accomplished, the number of higher university of applied sciences degrees, student feedback, graduate employment, qualitative employment, lifelong learning (cooperation studies), external RDI funding, publications and teacher education qualifications.